Most of the aluminum skids are from 5052, and because aluminum weighs so much less than steel it is possible to go to 1/4" plate for skids. Its not all about tensile strength when it comes to skids.
It depends on how you wheel. Uncoated Alu is not great for rock crawling as it tends to "grab" rocks, but people into rocks probably already know that. It is great for incidental contact. I don't like Alu for the front engine "bash" plate or sliders. I plan on keeping those steel, but the rest will eventually get Alu. Also lower control arms will have steel. Those tend to get slammed too.
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